Let's go global!

After 2 days of just walking around we decided to get more touristy on our last Mumbai day. We had until 11pm to get to the train station, so we decided to head north to visit the Global Pagoda. This is the largest unsupported dome structure in the world with seating for 8000 people so definitely it was something not to miss. The trip, as usual, included a long ride on the local train, but we were already well prepared for that, nothing new there. On arrival to the Borivali station we had to get a rickshaw to the ferry to get to the peninsula the Pagoda is on, but it turned out to be more difficult than expected. Of course there were loads of drivers around but as we were (and still are) obvious tourists they were quoting tripled prices and refused to use the meter on the ride. Eventually a young guy with more common sense turned up and even though he had to ask for directions he got us to the ferry port for the proper price. The ferry doesn't only serve the Pagoda but also 2 fun fairs, Esselworld advertised as one of the main attractions in India (yeah sure) and some other thing. This also meant a very mixed crowd on the boat with a school group, families, the local young and glamorous and inland tourists taking the ride with us. Luckily the motorcycles and loaded bike-rickshaws were transported on another ferry, although that was just a people transporter just like ours. The boat wasn't bad, just slow, it seemed as the driver did the loading/unloading part for the first time but with Indians being happy giving advice on everything to everyone he got all the help required :) The short walk to the Pagoda was nice, pretty palm trees everywhere with the entrance being right next to the fun fair. Before entry they took all our poisons like our whisky flasks (for disinfection!) and cigarettes, all of these worldly evils being forbidden on the holy grounds. The Pagoda itself was interesting, indeed huge from the outside as well, fully covered with golden paint, but as it was only built a couple of years ago the ornaments were more kitschy than nice. Lots of Buddha statues were set up around the gates with a couple of elephants and tigers scattered between them. We had to walk clockwise around the building to find the entrance where of course they had us take off our shoes to get in. And with all our expectations - we could only go in a meter or two with the larger part separated by plexiglass for the 3 meditating people sitting inside. Seemed like a bit of a waste of space :) apparently you can only go inside after completing a 10 day meditation course. We skipped that, but what we saw of the dome was indeed huge. We tried to back out through the entrance but that broke the rule of going clockwise and passing the donation stall so we were quickly ushered back :) tha Pagoda also follows best museum traditions as it has a gift shop, which we skipped and a cafe where we had some strange lunch. Apparently they are not too keen on meat (expected) or strong flavours (unexpected). They had a strange system whereby you had to buy dedicated food coupons at a counter and get your food somewhere else which made it a bit hard to choose for us, not knowing food by name. We went by the clerk's recommendation with some satisfaction - could have been worse :)
Next, a "quick" rickshaw/ferry/train ride back to the city, during which we learned how angry Indian women can get if you accidentally jump on the ladies' coach of the train (very, they hiss like snakes!) and how big an applause you get when jumping on the moving train, Mumbai style. We got off at a random station, finding ourselves in a city market. Apparently here the darkest alleys serve the best chai and any sudden turn of the road can get you to a busy farmers market. The small bananas are quite tasty, but nothing extraordinary. The price seems to be a constant 10 rupees for grocery regardless of buying 1 or 4 of anything. Our next stop would have been Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai, hidden in the back of a guarded residential building, but it was too full of the young Indian elite and too empty of free wifi so we skipped it.
Another train ride later we had a "burgee" (or something) at the station, basically buns with an onion/tomato omelette - they even gave scraps of the daily paper to wipe our hands. It seems used newspaper is used for hand wipes in toilets, wrapping sandwiches and paper trays - not necessarily in this order ;)
A quick taxi ride to the hotel, grabbing our bags, quick ride back to the station later we were ready for our first Indian night train. 14 hours on AC 3rd class with a 3 piece family and 2 university students sharing our couchette, what could be better :) Details to follow!